Restless – Episode 104

Restless – Episode 104

® 18+ SNVL
© Oyinloye Oluwatosin Emmanuel

13:45PM

The FOX Corporation Building,
Bexford.

Paul was still in the same office at the same table, waiting to get calls and reports when his secretary who he had sent to buy him some snacks to eat returned.

“Sir, I just kept them in your office,” the Agent said, standing firmly beside him.

“Thank you,” he said dryly and watched her bow slightly before walking away.

He took in a deep breath and picked his phones on the table. He turned and was about to get up from the seat when he saw Agent Sylvanus walking into the office with Steve following behind.

“Not again!” he murmured in his mind and heaved a sigh of frustration as he sank back to his seat. They were coming in his direction and he knew they were bringing something that would keep him from going into his office to eat.

“Chairman sir,” Agent Sylvanus said as they came closer.

Steve stepped quickly to the front of the senior agent and pulled out a a chair for him to sit on.

“Agent Sylvanus,” Paul Edwards stared at the man thinly, waiting for him to talk.

“We need to get details of the explosive device found at the University Of Bexford,” the older agent said.

“Okay,” Paul picked one of his phones again. “I only have brief information concerning it, I haven’t gotten the full details yet.”

He dialed and placed the phone close to his ear.

“Agent Rad, are you still in the office?” He said into the phone after his call had been answered. He spoke again after getting a response. “Please come to the office 102 immediately, I’m waiting there for you.”

“The team has made some connections and they seem to have a clue where the lady recorded the video from,” Agent Sylvanus said after Paul ended his call.

Paul Edwards squinted at the man’s face. “And which place do we have in focus?”

Agent Sylvanus looked up at Steve’s face, wanting him to give the answer.

Steve cleared his throat and moved closer. “The University Of Bexford Female hostel, and that’s why we need to get more information to confirm our assertion.

“Wow! From the report I got, a group of three FOX agents arrived there in our vehicle some minutes to twelve and claimed that there was a bomb in it. One of them went straight into the building searching for the bomb while the two others drove farther away from the place. The one who went into the building located the bomb at the upper floor and deactivated it.” Paul explained.

“And why are these FOX Agents still unnamed?” Agent Sylvanus asked. “There was an emergency call reporting the discovered bomb received in the office before twelve?”

“I wasn’t told of any, I have questioned the men at the call service center and they insisted there was no call received.” Paul replied.

“So, how then did the FOX agents get the lead?” Agent Sylvanus asked.

Paul raised his shoulders and his brows, he was about to give a reply when he spotted agent Rad coming in through one of the doors. Evelyn also entered from the second door where agent Sylvanus and Steve had entered from.

“Good afternoon sirs,” Agent Rad greeted his superiors as he got to the table.

“Agent Rad, please may we have an update on the UB explosive device?”

“Sir, we’re still putting the leads together.” Rad replied.

“No update on the previous report you gave?”

“There is,” Rad answered. “We interrogated the staffs at the University, one of the guards said the agent’s name was Michael. He had the FOX badge and had his name inscribed in it.”

“What about the other two?” Paul questioned.

“He didn’t get to ask about their names, but they were also on FOX uniforms and even on FOX masks.” Rad answered.

“That means their faces were not seen,” Agent Sylvanus put in.

“Yes,” Rad nodded. “They got to the female hostel but only one of them proceeded in, he asked the others to move far away. He went straight to the building and began to search around. He found the explosive device on the upper floor and deactivated it. He stepped out four minutes after with a lady with him and told the police officer to clear the device at the top floor.”

“He came out with a lady?” Agent Sylvanus interjected.

“Yes,” Rad answered.

Agent Sylvanus and Steve exchanged glances. The older agent took in a breath and leaned his back against the backrest of the chair. He waved for Rad to continue.

“The other agents who left in the car returned to pick them outside the hostel gate and they left immediately.”

“That lady the agent stepped out of the building with, was she one of the students?” Paul asked.

“No, the hostels guards said it was a strange face. She had a scarf covering her head and face slightly and also had sunshades on.”

Paul and Sylvanus looked at each other for a second.

“The first four men who got to the University gate in response to the directive from the office claimed they met another FOX vehicle driving out, they said the agents in the vehicle asked them to turn back saying the bomb alarm in the university was a fake one.”

“Was the FOX vehicle driving out the same with the one that carried the unknown agents in?”

“Yes, we haven’t confirmed the vehicle’s reg number but judging from the time the unknown agents drove out and when our agents got to the gate, it has to be them.”

“So, they left with the lady on scarf?” Paul asked again.

“Yes,” Rad nodded.

“Have you seen the video of a woman gotten by the FOX earlier today?” Sylvanus asked.

“No sir, I’ve not been in the office until forty five minutes ago.”

Sylvanus took in a breath. He remembered that Rad had not even seen the lady on scarf when the unknown FOX agent took her out, so he would not be able to recognize her.

“Can we get an eyewitness to be at the office?” Sylvanus requested from Paul.

“Oh yes, we should get one.” Paul replied and directed his gaze.

“I’ll make a call to our men who are still at the place and ask them to come with one.”

“You should also ask them to take pictures of the place, especially the room where the explosive device was found.”

“Oh! We have that already sir,” Rad replied.

“Good,” Paul cleared his throat. “And when are you going to confirm which vehicle it was that the unknown FOX agents took with them?”

“We were on it sir when you asked me to meet you here, the agents in our investigation room should have gotten it done,” Rad replied.

“Okay, find out from them and get back to me immediately, also come back with the pictures.” Paul ordered.

“Yes sir,” the agent saluted and then walked away briskly.

“I think we just confirmed the location from where the video was made from,” Agent Sylvanus said after Rad was out of sight.

“Let’s see the pictures for more concrete proof,” Paul opined.

“But why haven’t we gotten a report from the FOX agents who deactivated the explosive device? Could something have happened to them on the way?” Sylvanus asked rhetorically. He squinted at Paul’s face for a while and then looked at Steve and Evelyn.

“To me, something seems fishy.” Paul answered. “Rad just said the unknown agents lied to other FOX men who were about driving into the University. That means these unknown FOX agents have something to hide.”

“It suspicious really, I would have said they aren’t FOX agents but the badge recognized by the University guard makes it difficult to say so.” Sylvanus stated.

Their attention was divided when Paul spotted Agent Mensah walking into the open office.

“Sirs, you would have to excuse us.” Steve said politely.

“I’ll call you when Rad comes back with useful information,” Sylvanus answered.

Steve and Evelyn saluted before they turned and proceeded to the door. They stopped halfway to greet Agent Mensah before walking out.

“Good news sirs,” Agent Mensah said in a light tone. “Mark has been able to deactivate the explosive device found at the train station.”

“Wow! That’s some good news,” Paul smiled.

“Yeah, it is.” Sylvanus also joined in the joy.

“They are making arrests now and will return here very soon.”

“Great, we hope to get some leads from that.”

___

The FOX agents had interrogated the man who was the legal owner of Hutton’s house. Hutton had watched and listened to their conversation from the room.

After series of questions and answers, the FOX men had concluded that the owner of the house knew nothing concerning the report of Carl Winston coming to his house. They decided to stick around and watch for some more time.

A phone call distracted Hutton once again. He picked up the phone and answered immediately.

“Hello Kahn,” he said in sharp tone.

“The set up for the train station has been seized by the FOX,” Kahn reported.

“That was inevitable,” Hutton said. “They had enough time to do so.”

“Well, I do hope the third device isn’t discovered.”

“Well, i have no hopes about that. If Carl could get the first and second, it would be easy to get the third one.”

“So, we are about to record mass failure for today?”

“Maybe,” Hutton shrugged and got up. “Well, I think it’s time the Wolves men know that Carl Winston is alive.”

“Oh! Why?”

“It’s already inevitable, the FOX would soon discover. There’s no need keeping them in darkness anymore.”

“I see, we probably should discuss it in our next meeting.”

“You tell me when you decide,” Hutton replied. “I’m coming to meet you in few hours.”

“I’m currently about to see Florence Shawn,” Kahn said, his tone made it sound like a warning.

“Be careful with her,” Hutton said.”I’ll talk to you later.”

____

FOX Corporation Building

Rad finally returned to the office to meet the three executives sitting round the table and discussing, leaving the office owner’s seat empty.

“What have you got for us Rad?” Sylvanus asked.

“Sir, the vehicle has label 1342TD. It was hijacked from the three agents at the society secondary school.”

Paul squinted as he remembered the call received hours ago to report a suspicious activity at the secondary school.

“So, that call was a trap?”

“Yes, it was.”

“The caller’s name was Michael, we’ve tried to track his details but there are no details but there are no details for the line in the BCC data.”

“But how did it happen? How didn’t we notice that our men were drugged?” Paul asked, looking confused.

“Sir, their plan was tricky. The agents said they walked into the school to meet the suspicious man reported with the couple that reported him but they did not find anything harmful or dangerous with him. They called the office immediately to report that it was nothing and for all backups sent to retreat. They got attacked immediately after the call.”

“By the suspected man or with the couple?”

“With the couple, it seemed they were together. The three of them were the group of FOX agents that went to the University,” Rad explained.

“So, we were tricked and the car was snatched from our men.” Paul said aloud thoughtfully.

There was silence for a brief moment.

“I think we should try identify the faces of those three, there should be records in the CCTV which shows them.” Mensah suggested.

“No, none sir. There are no CCTV cameras around there,” Rad said.

“Well, let’s have the agents who saw the three of them talk to us then.” Sylvanus suggested.

“What about the eye witnesses we asked for?” Paul asked Rad.

“We have two waiting for interrogation already,” Rad answered.

“Okay, thanks. You can get back to work,” Paul dismissed him.

He saluted and turned back.

“I need to call Steve to join us in the investigation room,” Sylvanus said to Paul who was ready to get up.

“I’ll get back to the forensics now,” Mensah got up and excused himself.

40 Minutes Later

The executive in another room close to the interrogation room, watching the interrogation going on.

Steve had an earpiece plugged to his left ear which he used in listening for instructions from his superiors watching. A woman putting on the guards uniform of the University was sitting at the opposite end of the table.

It was the second person he would interrogate. The first was a man, one of the security guards at the gate of the University, the one who allowed the FOX vehicle to drive in. The man had confirmed that the badge displayed to him at the gate was the real FOX badge and that the men were putting on real FOX masks.

“Can you recognize the lady if you see her picture?” Steve asked the woman.

“I’m not sure, I only saw her briefly but I can try,” the woman replied.

Steve tapped on the laptop and moved the cursor to the volume icon on the task bar. He muted the system and then clicked open a video on the desktop.

“She’s the one, she’s putting on the same clothes she had on this afternoon,” the woman said immediately. “And that’s the unoccupied room where the bomb was found.”

Steve turned back the laptop to himself and closed the video player.

“You’re also the head of the guards at the hostel. Can you explain how the explosive device got into the place without your knowledge and how the lady who isn’t a student also got in.”

“I don’t know, I’ve also been bothered about it. I already began personal investigation before I was invited over here,” the woman said.

Steve leaned back and stared at the woman for a while. Then he chuckled and shook his head.

“What about the FOX agent that took her out, can you recognize him?”

“I don’t think so, part of their faces were covered.” the woman replied.

Steve squinted at her for a few seconds. “Can you describe him?”

“Ermm… The one that went into the building is tall and huge, I’m not sure of his complexion.” The woman said sorry a frowned face. “But he’s sure tall and muscular.”

“That’s all you know?”

“Yes, please.”

Steve was silent for a moment. He picked up a pen on the table and began to use it to drum playfully.

He suddenly looked up again. “Madam, we have our eyes on you already. You would have to explain how the lady and the bomb got into the building, you have just twenty four hours.”

“He’s tall and muscular,” Paul Edwards said under his breath and clenched his fists. His eyes met with Agent Sylvanus’ eyes and he knew both of them were thinking about the same thing.

“Could it really be Carl Winston?” Agent Sylvanus sniffed in.

“The description sounds like him,” Paul replied.

“It’s beginning to sound like everything said in the video was true,” agent Sylvanus said thoughtfully.

Paul gave him a sharp look. “How can Carl Winston be a part of the Wolves? It’s not possible.”

“It is very possible Chairman,” agent Sylvanus had his voice thickened. “The tall muscular man could have only been agent Carl Winston.”

“It could have been another tall muscular man,” Paul Edwards argued.

“I wish I could agree with you Paul,” Agent Sylvanus seemed to have made his conclusion. “But who else could have the original FOX badge? The man Steve interrogated earlier is an experienced security officer, he would have spotted a fake.”

“It could have been someone else in the FOX trying to play a funny game,” Paul insisted.

“You’re being sentimental about this,” Sylvanus shook his head. “Who else could have tricked FOX men and get away with it? And why did the FOX agent have to go with the lady after putting off the bomb, without bringing her here.”

Paul remained silent. He knew Sylvanus was making sense but he still could not get himself to believe that Carl Winston was a terrorist.

Sylvanus was about to speak again when Rad and Evelyn stepped in.

“Sir, we questioned the agents and got the description of those men, but we’re yet spot any FOX agent in the headquarters matching the descriptions.” Rad said as he approached the executives.

“Did the officers say there was a tall muscular man among them?” Paul asked.

Evelyn and Rad stared at each other for a moment.

“Yes, one of two men was described to be tall and heavily built.”

“Hmm,” Paul took in a breath.

 

Sorry for the lack of updates, there’s been power outage for 5 days here and it’s making it difficult to also keep up with my other works

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